Online Medical Billing & Coding

Los Angeles Career College is offering an exciting opportunity for those interested in beginning a new career as Medical Billing and Coding specialist. Medical Billing and Coding is a rapidly growing area of the health care field. With today’s advancements in medicine and technology and increasing government regulations, this field offers many career venues for individuals with a Medical Billing and Coding education. A Medical Biller and Coder takes health information and converts it into codes that allow the provider to receive reimbursement from health insurance companies.

What is Medical Billing and Coding?

The Medical Billing and Coding Specialist program prepares students for billing/coding careers in medical offices, hospitals, clinics, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), extended care facilities, insurance companies, and health data organizations. Medical coding specialists develop skills and knowledge to transform written descriptions of diseases, injuries, conditions, and medical procedures into alpha-numeric classifications. Currently, reimbursement for health care services is dependent on the assignment of universally recognized codes to describe diagnoses, services, and procedures. The codes are used to provide information for reimbursement of insurance claims, indexing statistics, research, and tracking patient care. In addition to coding, professional reimbursement specialists must learn the medical billing process to conform to individual insurance requirements, electronic billing procedures, and responsibilities associated with electronic data management.

Learn medical terminology, medical pathology, anatomy and physiology, basic pharmacology, medical law and ethics, and medical finance practices. Students will also study word processing, spreadsheet applications, and learn how to use electronic medical records system while using ICD-10-CM, CPT and HCPCS guidelines to complete ambulatory and hospital billing. This high-demand occupation provides many opportunities for people who like attention to detail and take pride in their work. Jobs in this growing field offer variety, challenge, and the personal reward of helping others.

Prerequisites for the course include:

A high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED)

No felony or misdemeanor related to the sale of drugs. Traffic violations and any other issues must be cleared up before the externship. This is the sole responsibility of each student

A history of vaccinations is periodically required to work in the externship

Commitment to the rigorous 14-week course schedule

Occupational Outlook

Employment of health information technicians is projected to grow 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. The demand for health services is expected to increase as the population ages.

National Shortage:
Well-trained medical coders and billers are needed nationwide—in fact, it is estimated that 50% more coding positions are available than professionals to fill them! Needless to say, organizations are looking for people with billing and coding certification, and they’re coming up short.

Program Length and Duration

With our Medical Billing and Coding collegiate certificate, you can get trained, certified, and working in the field in as few as 12-18 months — faster than many other medical billing and coding schools. Students must sit for the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) exam in order to become certified.

Certification and Licensure

Program graduates are eligible to take the American Association of Professional Coders national examination to become Certified Professional Coder Associates (CPC-A). AAPC credentialed coders have proven mastery of all code sets, evaluation and management principles, and documentation guidelines. Employers prefer to hire certified workers who have passed the national exam.

Financial Aid

Registration

Price: $549

This course provides a thorough perspective of human body structure and function. Topics include cell structure and function, and a survey of all major systems of the human body. The connections and inter-working relationships among systems are introduced. Based on the charts, you’ll use a set of established medical codes in order to transcribe patient history into a type of “shorthand” that will be used by both health care providers and insurance companies.